@Flengs Almost certainly no one animal would make the entire round trip (though one could assume that a horse might have). I was also skeptic that any one man would even attempt the journey in one go. Mrs. Luo and her son both said that there were indeed several traders that did the entire route, round trip, once per year. Agreed unlikely they used the exact same animal throughout the route, but upon what I've read and what I heard, many men couldn't afford pack animals and would transport it themselves. Many people we talked to on the trip mentioned guys carrying upwards of 90kg of tea on their backs. I'm sure you've seen pictures as well. Liu Yong's book also mentions people making the entire route. It was more profitable. As stated in the article, tea was arguably the least expensive product traded on the tea horse road. All kinds of wares were traded. This article was meant as an introduction, wasn't planning to go into all the details.

I went last week to Heijing. The entrance fee to the town is 30RMB and the museum, as well as all other points of interest, were all included.

It really is worth a visit. 11.5RMB by train? A steal!

Well, this is about 10 years too late, but that, my dear, is a Hoopoe. A summer visitor from Scandanavia to the Russian Far East, wintering in Africa, S&SE Asia, China south of Chiangjang River.

Favors open woodland, forest edge, groves and thickets, especially in river valleys, and in parks and gardens. The surrounding Kunming area would provide an excellent habitat for the Hoopoe.

It likes to eat insects and other invertebrates in dry soil or sandy ground.

Very "Onion"-esque headline there

Also, according to the CNN article I read, only one of the climbers was from the USA and he was Chinese-American. This is one of the most ridiculous crimes I've read about. Not only was only one guy American, 5000 meters is a pretty extreme place to go hunting for tourists. I hope they catch those murderers and quick. Maybe they'll be extradited to China for some punishment.